It is no secret that corporations and business decisions are responsible for most environmental problems we face today. From climate change pollution to conservation conflicts you can be sure the drive by “special interests” to make a buck is primarily responsible.
In the next month the push to have a popular and efficient Australian wide recycling scheme –cash for containers-faces its biggest “David” and “Goliath” struggle as big powerful multinationals like Coke flex their muscles and target politicians to vote against such a scheme.
Many of us have grown up with recycling schemes that swapped cash for empty containers such as cans, cartons and bottles, and remember how good it felt as kids to get a small sum of money for picking up trash. Container deposit schemes (CDS) – or “cash-for-containers” schemes are making resurgence around the world. This is because they consistently achieve very high recycling rates, are cost effective, create jobs and investment, and they are popular.
According to Jeff Angel from the Boomerang Alliance around 8 billion beverage containers make their way to landfill in Australia every year – that’s 15,000 per minute.
A recent report in The Conversation the 2012 Clean Up Australia Day Rubbish Report found plastics made up just 28 per cent of total rubbish collected in South Australia where there has been a scheme in operation since the 1970s.
Compare that to NSW and Victoria, who don’t have a scheme where plastics amounted to 38 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.
Other recent studies have also found jurisdictions with CDL also see lower levels of beverage bottles in the marine environment as they have a lower chance of entering the waste stream.
The recently created NT scheme has seen the creation of significant employment and economic opportunities in addition to tackling an environmental problem.
So why doesn’t all of Australia already have a CDL scheme?
There are three basic reasons why not: Coke, Lion and Schweppes – aka “the dirty three.”
These beverage companies will do almost anything to stop CDS from being implemented. Recently Coke exploited a legal loop hole to have the Northern Territory’s scheme thrown out, leaving communities, small businesses and the environment in the lurch.
The reasoning behind Coke’s challenge was that it didn’t want to see an “increase in cost of living pressures” for Territory households, who may have to pay up to 10 cents extra for sugary soft drinks Touching sentiments indeed, but no mention of a potential impact to their bottom line, or their ideological dislike for any kind of environmental regulation.
Cokes actions are an example of the lengths big multinational corporations will go to in the interests of protecting returns to shareholders. Coke doesn’t care about NT communities. Coke’s actions were targeted to send a powerful message to people across Australia – don’t even think about trying to introduce a national scheme!
But that’s exactly what the Greens are trying to do, along with many environmental NGO’s. This is a big fight. The battle for a national container deposit scheme goes back decades
As does my personal interest, from many days spent cleaning beaches with the Surfrider Foundation. I have developed a profound understanding that most rubbish found in the ocean is from plastic packaging, including plastic bottles. Companies should take some responsibility for their waste, especially when it damages the environment, and we know from the stomach contents of many thousands of dead sea-birds and other sea creatures that plastic is slowly killing oceanic wildlife. It has reached desperation point, and we have to start somewhere and clean up our act.
In the past month I have worked with my State and Territory colleagues and the environmental movement to continue to defy Coke and help the Northern Territory get their CDS back up and running. This has worked temporarily, but the real crunch time is this week. We will be watching closely the COAG meeting in New Zealand starting today to see that the right decision is made to give the NT the necessary exemptions to facilitate a permanent scheme If Australian Governments fail to back the Northern Territory community or fail to bring in a national scheme the Greens will look for ways to legislate to ensure this happens.
Most importantly, this week COAG has the opportunity to agree to a national container deposit scheme this year – after 20 years of trying! Since 2010 they have been looking at options to increase the rate of recycling of beverage containers in a nationwide program. One of these options includes a beverage company proposal for bin networks that has proven inefficient. In contrast, container deposit schemes are proven. For example in South Australia around 85% of beverage containers are recycled. The SA scheme allows for recycling infrastructure to be built up that not only recycles cans and bottles, but scrap metal and electronic waste as well.
Hopefully this will be a defining year for container deposits in Australia. We need your help and that of your friends and family to convince Governments that the community backs CDS and to give them the strength to say no to the ‘dirty three.’ Please sign our petition http://grns.mp/stop-coke and share it with your networks.
